Guest Announcement: SDSU Jazz Ensemble upcoming March 20th concert

SDSU Jazz Ensemble performs concert with acclaimed Los Angeles jazz saxophonist and composer, Kim Richmond

(San Diego, CA) – The SDSU School of Music and Dance is pleased to present the acclaimed SDSU Jazz Ensemble in concert with special guest, jazz saxophonist Kim Richmond, on Thurs. Mar. 20, 7:00 p.m. in Smith Recital Hall.  Bill Yeager directs.

"Kim Richmond combines the very best of jazz with a more classical approach to composition” explains SDSU Director of Jazz Studies Bill Yeager.  “His sense of humor is also evident in his selections of 'Peanut Vendor' and 'Zipidy Doo Da' for the upcoming concert. He is a masterful jazz saxophonist and is on a world class level."

Kim Richmond is a Los Angeles based musician whose first love is jazz.  His primary jazz voice is the alto saxophone, and he also plays soprano, tenor, and baritone sax, as well as clarinet, bass clarinet and flute.  Richmond has been involved in nearly every facet of the professional music industry, both as a player and as a composer/arranger.  He’s been a member of the orchestras of Stan Kenton, Louis Bellson, Bob Florence, Hill Holman and Vinny Golia, among others.  Richmond’s own Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra is a workshop for his writing, conducting and leading, and his sextet ensemble is a platform for free-form expression and improvisation. 

Also an educator, Richmond taught for 12 years in the Jazz Studies department of USC and presently teaches in the Jazz Department of the California Institute of the Arts.  He presents numerous jazz camps and clinics every year, is on staff at the Jim Widner Summer Jazz Camps, and assists with the Northwoods Jazz Camp/Jazz Party.  Whatever his mode of expression, Richmond strives to express a uniquely original voice, combining his extensive experience with the new sounds of our evolving musical world. 

Tickets to the SDSU Jazz Ensemble with Kim Richmond are $15 general admission and $10 for students and seniors (60+).  Tickets can be purchased through the online box office or at the box office window one hour before performance.  More information, a map and downloadable directions and parking options can be found on the SDSU School of Music and Dance website at musicdance.sdsu.edu. 

The SDSU Jazz Ensemble is a program of the SDSU School of Music and Dance and appears as part of the School’s 2013-14 season of performing arts offerings.  The SDSU School of Music and Dance presents over 200 concerts, recitals and dance performances each year, many with free or affordable admission.   

Still to come this season is the SDSU Choirs and Orchestra in concert featuring Fauré’s Requiem on Sat. April 26 at 7:30 p.m.; the SDSU Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band in concert on Tues. May 6 at 7:00 p.m.; the University Dance Company on Fri. May 2 at 7:30 p.m., Sat. May 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday May 4 at 2:00 p.m.; and the Kiwanis Cinco de Mayo Concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion on Mon. May 5 at 5:00 p.m.

For up-to-the-minute news and information about all of the recitals and performances at the SDSU School of Music and Dance, visit the School’s calendar or connect on Facebook or Twitter.

SDSU JAZZ STUDIES PROGRAM

The SDSU Jazz Studies Program has long been one of the premier jazz studies programs in the United States and regularly attracts the finest talent from the U.S. and abroad. The program offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in jazz studies and its three full-time jazz professors, Bill Yeager, Rick Helzer, and Richard Thompson, are complemented by the finest studio faculty available in the region.  The program is committed to turning out students who are competent, passionate, highly motivated and willing to take risks. From education to research, from performance to composition, students can create strong individual profiles to enhance their musical development. Through immersion in an environment of rigorous teaching, open inquiry, and deep exploration, students are encouraged to create works, performances, and ideas that have yet to be imagined.

Bill Yeager is a Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at SDSU, an active composer and arranger for both jazz and classical ensembles and is a well-known studio jazz and classical trombonist performing on hundreds of records, films, TV shows and commercials.  He has performed with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughn, Mel Torme and Dizzy Gillespie, to name a few, and has toured throughout the world.  Before coming to San Diego, Bill was founder/director of the Los Angeles Jazz Workshop where he recorded three successful albums and received a Grammy nomination.  Since coming to SDSU, Yeager, along with Rick Helzer and Richard Thompson, have built one of the largest jazz programs in California. His groups have recorded six top-notch albums, won numerous competitions and performed throughout the US, Europe, Taiwan, Boliva and Mexico.

SDSU SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND DANCE

The study of music was an early area of concentration at San Diego State University. Among the first seven professors hired in 1898 when the university was chartered, one was a music professor.  By 1907 the Department of Music at San Diego State University began conferring degrees, and a commitment to excellence in artistic innovation was dedicated. The commitment fostered a long legacy of educational and musical leadership for the program.  Today it flourishes as the SDSU School of Music and Dance.  For more information visit musicdance.sdsu.edu.